WASHINGTON — Thursday was supposed to be speaker John Boehner’s day to send a message to the
White House and the Senate: that he and his Republican-led House had acted to avert the so-called
fiscal cliff.

Instead, the GOP rank and file sent the West Chester Republican a message, refusing to back
Boehner’s “Plan B,” aimed at preventing tax increases beginning next year for all but those earning
$1 million or more a year.

One day later, Boehner tried to regroup, saying he is still “interested in solving the major
problems that face our country.”

Boehner, joined by his No. 2, Eric Cantor of Virginia, at a Capitol Hill news conference, said
the ultimate fault rests with President Barack Obama for refusing to agree to more spending
reductions that would bring down America’s $1 trillion annual deficit and rising $16 trillion debt.“
He wants more spending and more tax hikes that will hurt our economy,” Boehner said.

Others, meanwhile, worried that the Republican rebellion had weakened Boehner’s negotiating
position — and possibly his leadership role.

“If the White House is dreaming of a new speaker, if they think it’s going to be somehow better
for them, think about ‘Speaker Tom Price’ and how those negotiations are going to go,” said Barry
Bennett, a Republican strategist, referring to a tea party favorite from Georgia. “The White House
has got the best leader they can negotiate with right now. He’s not going anywhere.”

Boehner had pushed a backup plan to avert the fiscal cliff — that combination of expiring
income-tax cuts and mandatory spending cuts at the turn of the year that economists say could
trigger a recession. But his caucus, squeamish about letting tax rates increase for anyone,
revolted. A key Republican said yesterday that Boehner scrapped the House vote when he realized
that between 40 and 50 of the 241 Republicans in the House would not back him.

Boehner said some in his caucus misunderstood his backup plan as a tax hike. He defended it as
preserving current tax rates for 99.8 percent of taxpayers. Boehner said his Plan B was an attempt
to “jump-start” what he believed were stalled negotiations with the White House by giving the
Senate legislation it could act on.

“The perception created last night was that the vote was going to increase taxes,” Boehner said.
“We had a number of members who just really didn’t want to be perceived as having raised taxes.”&
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Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Township, a close Boehner ally, said some members told Boehner that it’d
be better to let tax rates go up before Congress lowered them again.

“It was very, very odd in terms of how this thing came together,” Tiberi said. “The irony was it
was a vote to save almost 100 percent — 99.8 percent — from higher taxes.”

He said the measure also would have made permanent existing tax cuts and permanently patched the
alternative-minimum tax.

“We’ve got people who say, ‘Let’s go over the fiscal cliff; it’s not going to affect me,’ ”
Tiberi said. “Well, do you work?”

Politico reported that Boehner, near tears, was frustrated enough to recite the “Serenity
Prayer” during a GOP caucus meeting on Thursday night. In the end, even invoking God didn’t work;
Boehner could not muster enough Republican votes to pass Plan B.

“He’s frustrated because he believes he is providing leadership,” Tiberi said.

Democratic political strategist Peter Fenn said Boehner might be forced to put Democratic
legislation on the House floor and hope he can get enough Republican votes for it to pass. The
alternative, he said, is to go over the cliff, which Fenn called a potential disaster.

But by putting Democratic legislation on the floor, Boehner might risk losing his speakership,
Fenn said.Political courage is needed in the capital, he added.

“We need folks who are willing to say, ‘OK, I’m willing to lose my job to see to it we don’t go
over the fiscal cliff.’ ”

The GOP’s Bennett said Thursday night’s result might actually send a much-needed message to the
White House and the Senate: that nothing will pass the House without significant spending cuts. “
They have to get serious about cuts,” he said of the White House.

Yesterday, reporters asked Boehner if his speakership is in danger. He said he isn’t worried.“
You’ve all heard me say this, and I’ve told my colleagues: Do the right things every day for the
right reasons, and the right things will happen,” he said.

Tiberi said Republicans understand that Boehner is negotiating with a president who does not
share his “worldview,” and they empathize with the speaker.

Support for Boehner among the rank and file, Tiberi said, is still strong.